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The Washington has enforced penalties on a operation of four individuals and four companies charged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a militia force in Sudan the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Group Makeup

Announcing the measures on Tuesday, the Treasury stated the network was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in terrible atrocities including ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light last year, prompted by an report which disclosed that over three hundred ex-military personnel had been contracted to participate in the war – an discovery that resulted in an rare mea culpa from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience gleaned from a long-running domestic war, training on Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have reportedly trained minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and participated in direct battles. A mercenary previously stated that working with child soldiers was "terrible and insane" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a individual with dual citizenship and retired Colombian military officer based in the Dubai. The government said he had a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who authorities say ran a firm implicated in processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States linked to Duque conducted several money transfers, amounting to millions," the official announcement noted.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the company she managed said to have conducted financial transactions connected to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to halt the flow of monetary and weaponry aid to the warring parties," the Treasury said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "highly important" development, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the right way to go".

Furthermore, Bogotá has enacted a statute ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, designed to limit its citizens' long history in international fights and reshape national security policy.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, urged more caution, saying that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating widespread use of contractors".

"It operates in the black market and operating from Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The UAE has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.